RALEIGH, N.C. — The run for a three-peat is over for UConn.
The Huskies, back-to-back national champions, were defeated by No. 1 seed Florida, 77-75, in a scintillating NCAA Tournament second-round game Sunday at the Lenovo Center.
For Florida (32-4), the victory sends it to the Sweet 16 in San Francisco next week.
For UConn, which had won 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament games, the loss ended its dream and its dynasty, at least for the moment.
“Somebody’s going to have to put us down in this tournament for us to go away,’’ UConn coach Dan Hurley said before the game.
And Florida did just that, seizing the game with a furious flurry late in a second half that had been controlled by Connecticut.
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With UConn protecting the second-half lead like parents protect their children, the game suddenly turned on a 3-pointer by Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. with 2:48 remaining that gave the Gators a 62-61 lead, their first lead of the second half.
Clayton, who led all scorers with 23 points, was playing for Iona and Rick Pitino two years ago when the Gaels had their season ended by UConn in the NCAAs.
The Clayton basket was followed by a UConn turnover and then a monster slam by Florida’s Will Richard with 2:27 remaining for a 64-61 Gators lead.
Solo Ball answered quickly for UConn with a 3-pointer to tie it at 64-64 with 2:25 remaining.
From there, though, the bottom would fall out for UConn.
Florida’s Alex Condon made it 65-64 by making his first of two free throws with 1:52 remaining, and Florida got the rebound off his miss on the second, getting two more free throws by Clayton with 1:45 left for a 67-64 lead.
After a 3-pointer miss by Alex Karaban, Clayton made another 3-pointer for a 70-64 Gators lead with 1:03 remaining.
The killer for UConn came after a missed runner in the lane by Ball. Condon was fouled and sent to the line again with 43.4 seconds remaining and missed both free throws.?
But Florida again got the offensive rebound and Alijah Martin hit a 3-point dagger for a 72-64 lead, its largest lead of the game, with 40.8 seconds left.
The entertaining first half ended with a flurry.
UConn tied it at 31-31 on a Hassan Diarra 3-pointer from beyond NBA distance with five seconds remaining.
Richard nearly answered at the buzzer, but his 3-pointer rolled in and out as the horn sounded.
That the game was tied at the half felt remarkable considering UConn shot 32.4 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from long distance.
One key to the Huskies’ survival in the first 20 minutes was their nine offensive rebounds which helped them take eight more shots than Florida.?
Another was forcing eight Florida turnovers, with the Gators entering the game averaging just 11 per game.
Hurley, before the game, had urged his top guns to shoot more often than they had in the first-round win over Oklahoma. And they did just that.
The way the game started, it looked like the end would come swiftly for UConn, which missed its first seven shots before scoring and was 1-for-11, 2-for-14 and 3-for-16.
Yet Florida could not lay the hammer down on the resilient two-time defending champions, partially because the Huskies forced seven Gators turnover in the first 10 minutes of the game.
At the TV timeout with 11:40 remaining in the half, UConn was 3-for-16 from the field and yet it trailed only 11-8.
UConn ended its 0-for-7 shooting start with a 3-pointer from Liam McNeeley with 16:27 remaining in the first half. That cut the Florid lead to 6-3 at the moment.
UConn continued to fight its shooting woes and actually took its first lead when Karaban, the lone remaining starter from the two national championship teams, drained a trey to give it an 18-16 lead with 7:28 remaining in the first half.
That sparked a series of moments with the lead changing on three consecutive possessions.
UConn tied it at 24-24 on a put-back by Karaban with 3:48 remaining in the half, as the teams each scored seven more points to end the half tied.
UConn began the second half completely opposite to the way it started the game, scoring seven of the first eight points to take its largest lead of the game at the time, 38-32.
The Huskies matched that six-point lead on a drive to the hoop by Aiden Mahaney to go up 48-42 with 11:57 remaining in the game.
UConn would keep its grip on the lead and its three-peat dream until Florida seized control in the final couple minutes.
